Category: News

Posted on

What Else Do We Read?

Buttons has been wondering about what other authors we Watsonians read. It may be interesting to have our members write mini-essays on this topic as comments below. We might be surprised by either the variety or the similarity of our reading pleasures. Plus, it is always fascinating to read about the literary interests of our fellow colleagues in literature. Perhaps Buttons may be allowed to start in order to lead the way:

Buttons began reading the Sacred Canon at age 8 and has re-read it completely once every year, either in the winter or the summer, ever since. This year is the 62nd re-reading of the Canon. But, he also re-reads all of the Thomas Hardy novels every fall; all of Dickens every winter; all of Christie’s Poirot every spring; and all of Kenneth Grahame’s novels every summer; plus other things around the edges, such as Solar Pons and Luis Borges in recent years. He has maintained this routine for over 38 years. As such, he seldom ever emerges from the 19th century and almost never is outside British literature, the only exception being his constant reading and re-reading of the ancient Japanese and Chinese poetry he studied at university and the collected poetry of Wallace Stevens each year.

The process of reading, for Buttons anyway, requires a large, comfortable, over-stuffed chair, a footstool, and a proper floor lamp over the left shoulder. A chair-side table is a requisite, in order to manage the coffee, and apple or two, the bowl of nuts, or the odd adult beverage. A black, round #2 pencil and a half-sheet of foolscap is there also in the event a note needs to be made, or a quiz question comes to mind. In fall and winter, a throw is added for the warmth that often precedes the inevitable nap.

Now, what about you? What are your reading interests and habits? Who would care to recommend an author or two who provided you with great pleasure and enjoyment over the years? What is your number one favorite book? Buttons can never read The Hound of the Baskervilles enough, but admits his favorite book remains The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.

Posted on

Kumar Bhatia, JHWS “Bobbie” Shares Another Fascinating Insight

Our well-travelled member, Kumar Bhatia, of Dubai and India has sent along this interesting report on the Russian statues of Dr Watson and Mr Holmes. Thank you very much, Kumar–as always–for these glimpses of the world as it honors our heroes.

In April 2007, a monument to Sherlock Holmes was unveiled outside the British Embassy in Moscow. It is the only one of its kind in the world, in that it has Holmes and Watson together. It features a pensive Holmes, clad in his signature cloak and deerstalker, standing and looking slightly upwards with one hand behind his back and holding a pipe in the other, as if contemplating a case. Beside Holmes is Dr Watson, seated on a bench and looking up towards Holmes in admiration, as it were. The statues are life-size and consumed 800 kilos of bronze in casting.

The artist, Andrei Orlov, although inspired by Sidney Paget’s sketches, sculpted Holmes in the likeness of the great Russian actor Vasily Livanov, who played the role of the Master to perfection in many Russian Movies. Orlov modelled Dr Watson after Vitaly Solomin who played Watson to Livanov’s Holmes. Vasily Livanov was the only Russian actor to be awarded the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II which was bestowed upon him in recognition of his great portrayal of Sherlock Holmes.

We are thankful to the Sherlock Holmes Society of India who first posted this article by Kumar Bhatia on its Society’s website.

Posted on

The Watsonian: Progress Report on the First Issue

The inaugural issue of The Watsonian is at the printer and we await the final proof. It will print by the end of next week and will be in the mail on schedule,  on budget, and way above expectations by 15 October 2013. It is being printed and mailed from Elmwood Park, New Jersey, so those of you on the east coast will receive it first with the rest of the country a few days later, and international mail will take likely up to two weeks. But, it is very much worth the wait!

The journal is 152 pages, perfect bound, and it is beautiful!  Our Publisher and Editor, Joanne Yates, has gone far beyond the call of duty and, over hundreds of hours, has produced a fine, fine journal. But, you–our members and authors–have exceeded our wildest expectations. Your papers, articles, and miscellanea are both the highest quality and astonishingly high in quantity. We had to reserve at least four excellent papers for the next issue.

So, the Society is most happy to report a success in the making . . . the first issue of The Watsonian . . . and let’s all hope for many more to follow for a very long time! So, please start your papers and articles and fictional pieces for the April 2014 issue.

Posted on

Kumar Bhatia, JHWS “Bobbie” Sends This Holmes Song

Our member from Dubai, U.A.E, Kumar Bhatia, JHWS “Bobbie” has sent this interesting song and lyric of the original sheet music for “The Ghost of Sherlock Holmes.”  Our great thanks to Kumar for a rare glimpse into a rare collectible.

THE GHOST OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

Don’t start and pray, don’t leave your seats, There’s no cause for alarm :

Though I’ve arrived from warmer spheres, I mean you all no harm.

I am a ghost, a real ghost too, that nightly, earth-wards roams;

In fact I am the sceptre of Detective Sherlock Holmes.

Chorus: Sherlock Holmes – Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock, Sherlock you can hear the people cry,

That’s the ghost of Sherlock Holmes  as I go creeping by .

Sinners shake and tremble, wherever this bogie roams,

And people shout  ‘He’s found us out ‘  It’s the ghost of Sherlock Holmes .

Chorus: Sherlock Holmes – Sherlock Holmes

The man who plots a murder, when he sees me lift my head,

Forgets to murder anyone and  ‘suicides’ instead.

An anarchist with lighted bomb, to cause explosive scenes,

Sees me and drops his bomb and blows himself to smithereens .

Chorus: Sherlock Holmes – Sherlock Holmes

The burglar who’s a-burgling, when he finds I am at large,

Get scared and says  ‘Policeman, will you please take me in charge?’

The Lady who’s shop-lifting tries to put her theivings back

And says,  ‘Mr Sherlock Holmes, I’m a kleptomaniac.’

Chorus: Sherlock Holmes – Sherlock Holmes

My life was more than misery, compelled to strut the earth,

And be a spy at beck and call of those who gave me birth.

But now that I’m a specter, all their misdeeds shall recoil,

I’m going to haunt ‘ Strand Magazine’ , ‘Tit-Bits’ and Conan Doyle .

Chorus: Sherlock Holmes – Sherlock Holmes

The song was written by one Richard Morton. (I am unable to ascertain the date). The music was composed, and the song sung by H.C. Barry.

The copyright as per the “Cover-Sheet ” is (or was) held by Francis Day and Hunter of Oxford Street, London, and The US copyright, by T.B.Harms and Co. of New York.

We regret that we are unable to upload the front cover photo of the sheet music that Kumar sent.

Posted on

The Good Doctor Offers a Toast by Ron Lies, JHWS “Chips”

We thank our Society’s author of interesting miscellanea, Ron Lies, JHWS “Chips,” who sends this toast he gave to Denver’s Doctor Watson’s Neglected Patients two years ago:

“The Song of Doctor Watson”
Words and music by Harvey Officer

Doctor John H. Watson was I,
Known as a straight and honest guy.

Was to be a Surgeon for years,
In the Northumberland Fusiliers

But wounded was I in the thigh
Or was it the Subclavian Artery?

‘Twas by a vile bullet Jezail,
Shot by the Ghazis murderous hail.

Needless that I should repeat,
How I arrived in Baker Street.

Of all the tales I have versed
A Study in Scarlet was the first.

Holmes, ‘tis true, made me the goat,
Criticized every word I wrote,

But he tried, after a while,
Even to imitate my style.

However, I did marry again,
Who was the dame I married then?

The name must be mysterious still,
Roberts declared ‘twas De Merville.

Morley, he did not agree,
Said it was Sherlock’s landlady.

But any proof I do not see,
So, it must remain a mystery.

Rightly, then, praise you my pen,
All you men and women.

Was I not willing to be?
Called by him “Elementary?”

For you see, I had to be,
Boswell to his curious vanity,

After all, but for my tomes,
What could you know of Sherlock Holmes?

Posted on

Welcome to Vincent Brosnan, JHWS “Beeton,” BSI “That Gap on That Second Shelf”

The Society is delighted to welcome long-time Sherlockain and Watsonian, Vincent Brosnan, JHWS “Beeton” and BSI “That Gap on That Second Shelf,” to Charter Membership.Known to readers and collectors of books as “Sherlock in L.A.,” and also as “Vinnie” to his many firiends, Mr Brosnan has had a long and distinguished career as a Bookman and antiquarian, handling many of the storied Sherlockian book collections in sales for their owners. His sale catalog of the Col. Ted Schulz Collection is a collector’s item itself. He is also a publisher of pamphlets, monographs and Sherlockain Miscellanea.

Mr Brosnan lives in Oceanside, California. He was invested by the Baker Street Irregulars in 2011 with the unique investiture of “That Gap on That Second Shelf” a bookman’s comment to Watson (Holmes in disguise) upon his return to the living.

Please welcome Vincent Brosnan to the Society with our greeting to members:

“You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive.”

Posted on

The Society Welcomes Howard A. Brody, MD, PhD, BSI “Anstruther,” JHWS “Caddy” as Founding Member

The Society is honoured to welcome Howard A. Brody, MD, PhD, BSI, JHWS as a Founding Member and Director-at-Large. Dr Brody is a distinguished life-long Sherlockian and resides in Galveston, Texas.

Howard Brody, M.D., has been the director of the Institute for the Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston since 2006. Prior to this position, he served as the director of the Center for Ethics and Humanities at Michigan State University. Brody says that he chose family medicine to focus his academic career on medical ethics. By being a family doctor, Brody says he believed it would enhance his knowledge of medical ethical issues by giving him broad exposure to the problems patients and their families face between birth and death. While on the faculty at Michigan State, Brody wrote a weekly health column in the local paper to reach out to people about primary care issues that recurred with his patients. In Galveston, he wrote a weekly medical ethics column in The Galveston County Daily News until 2008 and he still contributes columns for the paper periodically. In total, Brody has written over 100 articles on medical ethics and is the author of six books on the topic, the most recent being “The Future of Bioethics.” Brody earned his medical degree in 1976 from the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and his doctorate in philosophy in 1977, also from Michigan State. He and his wife. Daralyn, have two children, Sheila and Mark. For many years, he was an active member of the Greek Interpreters of East Lansing. Dr. Brody, invested as “Anstruther” by the Baker Street Irregulars in 1981, enjoys reading the Sherlock Holmes saga and contributing articles to the Baker Street Journal.

Please welcome Dr Brody warmly with the Society’s greeting:

“You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive.”

Posted on

OK, Here’s the Answer:

The Sonnet came from a pamphlet titled A Lauriston Garden Of Verses, six Sherlockian sonnets and a ballad by Helene Yuhasova and published by the Pamphlet House, Summit, New Jersey; 1946. Helene Yuhasova is a pen name for the great Sherlockian scholar, Vincent Starrett.Thanks to Ron Lies, “Chips” for this delightful remembrance of the legendary Mr Starrett.

An addendum from commenter Marci in April 2015: Helene Yuhasova is the pen name of my Auntie Helene, who is the author, not Vincent Starrett.

Posted on

From Ron Lies, JHWS “Chips”: Another Interesting Item About Dr Watson

Ron sent this interesting sonnet from Holmes to Watson. Does anyone know who wrote it or where it appeared, or who was the illustrator? We extend our sincere thanks to “Chips” who is one of our very interesting and interested members, managing to send something a bit reserché nearly every week.
1380137600.jpg

The Sonnet reads: Sherlock Holmes to John H. Watson

You said of me what Plato said of him:
Who took the hemlock at his soul’s behest
That I was paragon and paradigm–
Of all you’ve known, the wisest and the best.
Discernment such as that shows goodness, too,
And certifies a wisdom long concealed–
My wisdom lay, perhaps in choosing you
To stand beside me as my foil and shield.

For you are Britain’s apotheosis;
The summum bonum of the bulldog’s breed;
A benison epitomized in this:
That strength and valour flourish in your deed . . .
Come, Watson, come!  The game’s afoot and free:
The world has need of men like you–and me.

Posted on

Welcome to New Student Member, Jacqueline Wyard-Yates, JHWS “Abby”

The Society welcomes Jacqueline Wyard-Yates, JHWS “Abby” to Charter Membership. Jackie is a student at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont. She is also a member of the Napa Valley Napoleons of S.H. Her interest in Dr Watson and Mr Holmes dates back a number of years and is a familial trait. Her sister and grandparents are also JHWS members.

We look forward to Jackie’s participation in the Society and, perhaps, her submissions to the journal.

Please join in a warm welcome to Jackie as we extend our Society’s greeting:

“You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive.”

Posted on

A Small Watsonian Jewel Found by Ron Lies, JHWS “Chips”

John H Watson

Watson wrote all those wonderful tales
Besides which every other tale pales,
What more can we say,
That up to this day,
Each attempt to improve upon them fails.

— William S Dorn BSI, DWNP.
from his book and card set The Limericks of Sherlock Holmes; Pencil Productions Limited, 2005.

Thank you, “Chips!”

Posted on

Welcome Bonnie MacBird, JHWS “Lady” to Charter Membership

The Society is delighted to welcome a new Charter Member: Bobbie MacBird, JHWS “Lady” from Los Angeles, California.

Bonnie writes:

Bonnie MacBird fell in love with Sherlock Holmes at age ten and consumed the entire Canon in fourth grade, where she was sent to the principal’s office for using the word “ejaculated” in a writing assignment. A writer by profession, (TRON, many produced plays, former Universal story editor, and three time Emmy winning producer) she recently completed a Sherlock Holmes full length novel pastiche ART IN THE BLOOD, A Sherlock Holmes Adventure, for which she’s now preparing Paget style illustrations.  A member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, the Cercle Holmesien de Paris, The Curious Collectors of Baker Street, and the originator in Los Angeles of the Sherlock Breakfast Club and also the Sherlock Holmes in Brentwood play reading series, she also can boast having seen Jeremy Brett play Watson in the 1980 production of Crucifer of Blood on Los Angeles.  She has participated in the last two Great Sherlock Holmes debates in London, the first “defending” The Second Stain, and the second presenting the wonders of the writing techniques in BBC Sherlock.  A frequent visitor to London, which she considers a spiritual home, she’s a huge fan of Jeremy Brett, Benedict Cumberbatch — and thinks Martin Freeman a superlative Watson.  She was lucky enough to actually see them filming BBC ‘Sherlock on Gower Street early this year.  And she eats at Speedy’s a lot. She occasionally engages in non Sherlockian activities such as teaching screenwriting at UCLA Extension and is married to computer scientist Alan Kay. She has a dog named Watson.”

As we can all see, Bonnie has all the prerequisites for a life steeped in Sherlockian and Watsonian devotion . . . especially with the dog. Please join in a warm welcome to Bonnie MacBird, JHWS “Lady.”

“You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive.”

Posted on

 Welcome to Elinor Hickey, JHWS “Misty” as a Charter Member

We welcome today a life-ling Sherlockian and Watsonian and writer, Elinor Hickey, JHWS “Misty.” She resides in Baltimore, Maryland where she is a member of Watson’s Tin Box of Ellicott City, MD.

Elinor writes:

“My Sherlockian history is wandering; it started in the 1990’s when I was a wee child, and I read parts of the Canon but failed to absorb them.  It was reinforced in
the 2000’s when Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century was airing on TV, and that certainly caught my attention.  But, it was not until the Warner Brothers movie of 2009 and the subsequent surge in Holmesian goodness that I was properly hooked.  I quickly became involved in internet fandom, and am an enthusiastic writer of suggestive Holmes/Watson fiction (which can be found, for those inclined, under the pseudonym Mistyzeo at Archive of our Own).  My short story/pastiche “The Adventure of the Green Zeppelin” is included in the anthology Elementary Erotica from Circlet Press in 2011.”

We look forward to having your participation and the pleasure of your company. Please join in a warm welcome to Elinor with our new member greeting:

“You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive.”

Posted on

Baron Maupertuis and Ron Lies, JHWS “Chips”

Our member, Ron Lies, “Chips” takes part in a Sherlockian group on the web led by “Judith” who poses interesting questions for the participants to discuss. Here is a recent example concerning “The Reigate Squires”:

Judith: This case opens with Watson saying: “The whole question of the Netherland-Sumatra Company and of the colossal schemes of Baron Maupertuis are too recent in the minds of the public, and too intimately concerned with politics and finance, to be fitting subjects for this series of sketches.”

Questions and Ron Lies’s responses:

A. Why would being too recent in the minds of the public make these cases not fitting subjects for this series of sketches? This implies that they would be fitting later.  Either a subject is fitting or not, right?

RL: No, a subject could be too painful and fresh in peoples’ minds, whereas the
passage of time might mitigate the pain.

B. Wouldn’t the fact that these cases are still fresh in the minds of the public make them more marketable?  Why not strike while the iron is hot?

RL: No, I think that the Doctor Watson was trying to not to bring up again the pain and the destruction of the financial dreams of the lives of the people who were swindled by Baron Maupertuis. Watson was trying in his own way to soften the pain and the destruction to the vast numbers of people ruined by The Baron’s swindles.

C. Is it possible that Watson is just toying with his readers and making mountains out of mole hills?

RL: Doctor Watson would not toy with his readers or make mountains out of mole hills. His code of conduct would not allow him to do so. Doctor Watson was crediting the readers with reasonable intelligence. He felt some readers would wonder why the question of the Netherland-Sumatra Company and of the colossal schemes of Baron Maupertins” were not being addressed by Sherlock Holmes
and himself.

Yours in Sherlock and Watson,

“The Game is Afoot”  aka Ron in Denver, JHWS “Chips”

What do you think? What other explanations may be reasonable for Holmes and Watson not acting in response to the Baron Maupertuis schemes? Please feel free to make comments. We thank “Chips” for his sending these insights on this shadowy corner of the Canon.

Posted on

New Weekly Quiz Today!

The first of the new Weekly Quiz features will appear today by 12 Noon (Pacific time) on the Quiz Page!  Please take a look and give it a try. Your answers can be sent via email to Buttons by 12 Noon on Saturday 21 September 21. First email received with the highest number of correct answers is the week’s Quiz Master.
Posted on

A Tribute to Jeremy Brett on the Anniversary of His Passing by Charter Member Kumar Bhatia, JHWS “Bobbie”

Our esteemed member from Dubai, Kumar Bhatia, JHWS “Bobbie” has written this kind and moving tribute to the great actor Jeremy Brett who portrayed Sherlock Holmes for many years in the Granada Film series.

A Great Actor, a Greater Human Being, And the Greatest Sherlock Holmes  There Will Ever Be: Jeremy Brett—Rest in PeaceBy Kumar Bhatia

Dear Friends and Fellow Sherlockians

Eighteen years ago, on this day, 12 September 1995, the Sherlockian world lost one of its most radiant jewels. Jeremy Brett, at the height of his career and only sixty-one years old, died of heart failure and other medical complications.

In a career that spanned forty years, Jeremy who trained in Shakespeare,  portrayed a formidable array of roles, from Hamlet to Freddie Eynsford-Hill. But his magnum opus was, of course, his brilliant portrayal of Sherlock  Holmes in the Granada TV series of 1984. I have restricted this tribute to his portrayal of Holmes in the Granada production.

When Granada first asked him, in February 1982, to play Sherlock Holmes, Jeremy was not very enthusiastic; “I really don’t want to do it. I think it has been done so many times – I can’t see any point in trying to do it anymore.” Fortunately for us Jeremy Brett re-read the entire Canon and revised his opinion: “I discovered all sorts of things I could do if I had the opportunity to do it! So I said ‘Yes!’”

And the rest is history. Jeremy went on to deliver thirty-six one hour episodes and five full-length movies in the Granada TV series that started in 1984 and spanned nearly ten years. Sadly, the last few episodes were made when he was rather ill, in spite of which, with his boundless energy and dedication to his craft, Jeremy gave his best.

Jeremy said he saw Holmes as “a man of isolation . . . a very private man.” So he strove in his performance to bring out the inner workings of the character. “Holmes is the hardest part I have ever played—harder than Hamlet or Macbeth,” he said.

There have been many fine actors who have tackled this difficult role. So what is it that has made Jeremy Brett’s rendition stand tall over every other actor who had played Holmes? Jeremy made up his mind that he would portray the character exactly as per Doyle. “So I had to go on an extraordinary journey of discovery, and it’s all there . . . in Doyle, and what is so extraordinary is that no one has done Doyle before.”

As an actor Jeremy was a becomer. In his own words “You ‘become’ the creature, the person you are playing. I’m a romantic-hero actor, so I had to hide an awful lot of me, and in doing so, I look quite often brusque, even slightly rude.”

During the course of the production Jeremy constantly referred to the ‘Canon,’ the original stories as written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which he believed “. . . should be the touch stone for every actor playing Holmes.” He even carried to the set of the films his own seventy-seven page “Baker Street File” detailing everything about Holmes, from the mannerisms down to his eating and drinking habits. When he gave us Holmes, Jeremy was not playing to the gallery with the cliché deer-stalker and magnifying glass; He gave us the complete Holmes, the gestures, dress, nuances of body language, bouts of melancholy (“The Devils Foot”), bursts of energy (the leap over the couch in “The Red Headed League”), tapping the pipe in impatience, that smirk of arrogance, the amused snigger (“The Musgrave Ritual”): just playing You-Know-Who to perfection! (That’s how Jeremy referred to Sherlock Holmes—“You-Know-Who”). Sheer poetry! Just watch every frame closely.

He even captured with incredible accuracy the sketches of Sidney Paget. To mention a few: watch him holding a rose (“The Naval Treaty”); as the Clergyman (from “A Scandal in Bohemia”); seated, surrounded by pillows and smoking a pipe (“The Man with the Twisted Lip”); the fist fight (“The Solitary Cyclist”); even his ‘casual’ hairstyle in the later episodes has a precedent in Paget’s sketches (“The Red Headed League”): Pure Paget as only Jeremy could.

For a boy who had a speech impediment (he was born with “rhotacism” and could not pronounce his R’s properly, a defect corrected when he was a teenager by surgery), Jeremy’s diction was superb. He did a great job of “You are the stormy petrel of crime – Watson,” with 4 R’s in it (from the “Naval Treaty”).

Nearly thirty years after the first episode, “A Scandal in Bohemia,” telecast on 24 April 1984, the accolades show no signs of fatigue:

“I have had nothing but praise. I have received twelve plaques from twelve societies for being the best Holmes ever.”

“I have this lovely blessing over my head: Dame Jean Conan Doyle says I am the Sherlock Holmes of her childhood.”

“Jeremy Brett, the man who mastered the Master!”

“Jeremy Brett’s Holmes is fundamentally faithful to Doyle’s original. The magnetism of his bravura performance attracts a new generation of admirers to the stories. In the years to come it will be his face they see when they read the books, and it will be his voice they hear when the great detective speaks. A part of the monument that is the legend of Sherlock Holmes now has Brett’s name indelibly carved on  it.”

Khumar Bhatia, JHWS “Bobbie” resides in Dubai, UAE and is a member of The Sherlock Holmes Society of India, his native country. He is a successful industrialist and a life-long devotee of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.

Posted on

Warm Welcome to New Charter Members from France and La Société Sherlock Holmes de France 

The Society welcomes two distinguished Sherlockians of France to Membership:

Thierry Saint-Joanis, JHWS “Tristan”

The Society extends a warm welcome to M. Saint-Joanis, who is the president of La Société Sherlock Holmes de France.   He is a member of the French Society team that won the Open International Competition of the First Annual John H. Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt.

M. Saint-Joanis’s biography:

SSHF co-founder and president since 1993.  Manager of the Mycroft’s Brother editions company. Born 1960 in Thiers (near Clermont-Ferrand), France. Has been Sherlock Holmes addict since his university days studying History.

Journalist for several French newspapers and teacher at the French School of Journalism in Paris (Specialist of Investigation).

In 1988, he met  Jean-Pierre Cagnat who opened to him the gates of the Holmesian World. In 1992, Thierry and Jean-Pierre Cagnat met Alexis Barquin and Yves-Charles Fercoq and decided to create a new Holmesian society which will keep green the memory of the great detective. In 1993, The Société Sherlock Holmes de France (SSHF)  was born.

In February 1997, with Alexis Barquin and Pierre Bannier, author of Sherlock Holmes, a Practical Guide of the Holmesian World (in French).

In September 1997, founder of the Sherlock Holmes Worldwide Congress of the Holmesian societies In January 1998, invested irregular at the Baker Street Irregulars of New York as “Monsieur Bertillon.”

In January 2001, as editor, published It Is Always A Joy… by Jean-Pierre Cagnat.

Personal website: http://www.mycrofts.net

Member of the following societies:

» La Société Sherlock Holmes de France (Mycroft Holmes)
» The  Sherlock Holmes Society of London
» Uno Studio in Holmes
» The Jeremy Brett Society of France
» The Amateur Mendicant Society (Huret)
» The  Baker Street Irregulars (M. Bertillon)
» Société d’études holmésiennes de la Suisse romande
» Deutsche Sherlock Holmes Gesellschaft
» H.O.L.M.E.S.
» The Elusive Bicyclists (L. Armstrong)
» Le Club des Hydropathes holmésiens (Founder)
» The Beacon Society
» La Lega dei Presidenti (France)
» SSHF For Holmes (Admin)
» The Master’s Masons
» The Sign of Fort d’Agra (Deerstalker 1)
» La  seconde tache
» Les Amis du Musée SSHF
» Le peloton des cyclistes solitaires
» The Pissing Three Quarter

Thierry also has an astounding, full scale reproduction of the sitting rooms at 221B Baker Street created within his home. The website displaying photos of the rooms is: http://www.sherlock-holmes.fr/murder-party/2-a-visit.htm. A visit to this website is a must!

Please join in a warm welcome to Thierry Saint-Joanis and extend our Society’s traditional greeting:  “You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive.”

Alexis Barquin, JHWS “Olivier”

The Society welcomes warmly M. Alexis Barquin, the co-member in the Treasure Hunt for Team France of La Société Sherlock Holmes de France. M. Barquin is also co-founder and Secretary of La Société Sherlock Holmes de France and is instrumental in the management of the priceless Sherlockian resource, Sherlockian Who’s Who.

Alexis Barquin’s biography is:

SSHF co-founder and secretary since 1993. SSHF Webmaster since 1996.

Born  1968 in Paris, France. Has been holmesian since his university days studying chemistry.

He joined the  Société des Amis d’Henri Fournaye  in 1991, and was an active member of  La Lettre de Baker Street  managed by Jean-Marc Faure. In 1992,  La Société des Amis d’Henri Fournaye  closed. One year later,  La Lettre de Baker Street  was closed too.

Alexis met Thierry Saint-Joanis and decided to create a new Holmesian society which will keep green the memory of the great detective. In 1993,  La Société Sherlock Holmes de  France  (SSHF) was born.

Since, Alexis Barquin has created the SSHF website which is the best Holmesian ressource in french on the web; and http://www.sh-whoswho.com.

Personal website: http://www.sshf.com

Member  of the following societies

» La Société Sherlock Holmes de France (John M. Watson)
» The Hounds of the Internet
» The Beacon Society
» H.O.L.M.E.S.
» SSHF For Holmes (Admin)
» La seconde tache
» Sherlock Holmes Club of Latin America
» Le peloton des cyclistes solitaires
» The Pissing Three Quarter

Please welcome M. Alexis Barquin and extend the warm greeting of the Society:

“You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive.”

Posted on

The Open International Competition of the Treasure Hunt Won by the Team from France!

The Society is pleased to announce the winners of the Open International Competition of the First Annual John H. Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt:

Team France of La Société Sherlock Holmes de France.

Their team consisted of M. Thierry Saint-Joanis and M. Alexis Barquin, who are both leaders of La Société Sherlock Holmes de France and maintain the very valuable website Sherlockian Who’s Who found at the following web address:
http://www.sh-whoswho.com/index.php

This skilled and knowledgeable team answered an amazing number of the 100 difficult questions, and did so without the use of the edition of The Complete Sherlock Holmes specified in the Treasure Hunt and to which all page number references were keyed.  Essentially, they were working from memory. Formidable!

Congratulations to the first International Team winners!

The Answer Key to the First Canonical Treasure Hunt has now been posted on the Treasure Hunt Page.

Posted on

Warm Welcome to Mr Roger Johnson, JHWS “Count” and Ms Jean Upton, JHWS “Countess,” Distinguished British Sherlockians and Authors

Picture
Jean Upton and Roger Johnson of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London pose on the set of BBC television’s “Sherlock” during the filming of “The Reichenbach Fall” in 2011. At the recent Sherlock Holmes Through Time and Place conference in Minneapolis, they reported on their experiences as a guest of the show’s producers, showed video, and made it clear that anything they may have seen that hints at an explanation of “The Empty Hearse” is not for the world to know. “Sherlock” co-creator Mark Gatiss took the photo. With thanks to www.sherlockiannet.com and Mr Chris Redmond for the photo and caption appearing on his wonderful Sherlockian.Net

New Charter Members

The Society is honoured to extend Charter Membership to Roger Johnson, JHWS “Count” and Jean Upton, JHWS “Countess” both distinguished Sherlockians, scholars and authors.

Mr Johnson writes:

“It’s good to know that appreciation of Dr Watson is growing. I’m a long-time member of the Friends of Dr Watson here in England, though I’m rarely able to attend meetings, and I’m in frequent contact with the Watsonians.”

Roger Johnson, BSI (“The Pall Mall Gazette”), ASH (“Shinwell Johnson”), PSI (“Geoffrey Thompson”) is a retired librarian. His introduction to the world of Sherlock Holmes was through an American, the late Luther L Norris. Like Holmes himself, he maintains that it is always a joy to meet an American. He joined the Sherlock Holmes Society of London in 1968. For thirteen years he presented the Society’s annual film evening, and since 1982 he has written and distributed its
newsletter, The District Messenger. In 2007 he succeeded Nicholas Utechin
as joint-editor of The Sherlock Holmes Journal.

Jean Upton, ASH (“Mrs Farintosh”), BSI (“Elsie Cubitt”) attended her first meeting of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London in 1987 – at Granada Studios, where Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke were filming Wisteria Lodge. Jean has contributed essays, reviews and illustrations to books and periodicals on both sides of the Atlantic, and her portrait of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle hangs in the restaurant of the Sherlock Holmes pub in London. Jean Upton and Roger Johnson met through the Society, and were married in 1992. Since 1993 they have acted as curators/housekeepers of the 221B study at the Sherlock Holmes pub. Their book The Sherlock Holmes Miscellany was published in 2012. Reviews of their book are universally favourable, as here:

THE SHERLOCK HOLMES MISCELLANY by Roger Johnson & Jean Upton
“This is the best introduction to Sherlock Holmes that I know and it also serves as a valuable work of reference. Written by two experts, presented with wit and published as an attractive hardback at a very modest price – there’s no better bargain for the beginner or the regular reader.” -Amazon reader review.

Please join in extending a warm welcome to both Roger Johnson and Jean Upton as they now begin what we hope will be a long and valuable membership in The John H Watson Society.

“You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive.”

Posted on

Welcome to New Charter Members!

The Society is delighted to welcome four additional new Charter Members. Please join in our traditional greeting as we bring these new Watsonians among our fold:

“You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive.”

Kenneth Siarkiewicz, JHWS “Cooper”

Mr Siarkiewicz joins us from Tucson, Arizona. He has been a Sherlockian since the early 1900’s and reads deeply in the Canon and the Baker Street Journal. We look forward to his participation and contribution to the Society.

Eric Swope, JHWS “Punch”

Mr Swope joins us from Mishawaka, Indiana.  He is a member of the following:

» The  Society of the Solitary Cyclists
» The Illustrious Clients of Indianapolis
» The Sherlock Holmes Society of London
» The Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota
» The  Red Circle of Washington, D.C.
» The Bootmakers of Toronto
»  The Mycroft Holmes Society of Syracuse
» The Younger Stamfords
» The Nashville Scholars of the Three Pipe Problem
» The John H Watson Society

He writes:

“I am a third generation Californian with a life long affection for both John H. Watson and the Great Detective himself. I specialize in rare Sherlockiana and enjoy my involvement with numerous societies. I am the secretary for the Society of the Solitary Cyclists and just recently attended my first Sherlockian conference in Minneapolis. I enjoy reaching out to the younger generation about Sherlockian
interests.”

We welcome “Punch” and look forward to his participation in “things Watsonian.”

Margaret Nelson, JHWS “Annie”

Mrs Nelson lives in Seattle and is a member of The Sound of the Baskervilles (SOB’s). Margaret was a member of the Open Team Competition that won First Place in the First Annual John H Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt with a perfect score of 100 points. She enjoys growing old garden roses. Recently she wrote a mini-monograph, Moss Roses in Two Classic Victorian Mysteries. Of course it includes the rose in The Naval  Treaty. 

Allen Nelson, JHWS “Trix”

Mr Nelson resides in Seattle with his bride Margaret and was also a member of the winning Open Team Competition in the JHWS Treasure Hunt.

He is also a member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London and the Sound of the Baskervilles. In 2009 he went to a meeting of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London to hear a lecture on the battle of Maiwand. The next year, we both traveled to Salisbury where he again met the lecturer, Colonel (Retired) M.J. Cornwell, who is the Curator of the Rifles, Berkshire (Watson’s regiment) and Wiltshire Museum.They have a large copper beech tree on the grounds. They also had displays about the first battle of Maiwand and the modern war in Afghanistan. Ironically, the Nelson’s new son-in-law is in the infantry and has been to Afghanistan twice. He was several times asked “I perceive you have been in Afghanistan…” when he came to a SOB meeting.